Azerbaijan wants peace in Caucasus: President

By Zehra Nur Duz

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev called for peace and stability in the Caucasus region on Friday, according to the country's state-run news agency.

The opening ceremony of the 2nd Azerbaijan National Urban Forum organized by the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture of Azerbaijan in collaboration with the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) was held in Zangilan province as part of Azerbaijan Urban Week, AZERTAC reported.

“We want peace in Azerbaijan. I think what we see here in Zangilan demonstrates that we want peace. We want to rebuild the country, bring our former refugees here, and live peacefully,” Aliyev said during the ceremony. “We want peace in the Caucasus. It is reachable and the choices should be made by Armenia.”

Aliyev said since the Second Karabakh War ended, $7 billion has been spent from the Azerbaijani budget to reconstruct liberated territories, including Zangilan.

On the Sept.19 anti-terror operation, Aliyev said: “The anti-terror operation lasted less than 24 hours. Now everybody knows how it ended. Did we continue? No, we stopped. We did not have any intentions to continue.”

Underlining that Azerbaijan recognizes Armenia’s territorial integrity, Aliyev said: “Because if we had other intentions, on the 20th of September, things wouldn't have stopped. I want everybody to know it. The Armenian leadership, those who stand behind them, and those who may think about some unacceptable plans against Azerbaijan.”

Aliyev urged Azerbaijan and Armenia to start working on a draft peace deal following the anti-terror operation.

After Azerbaijan restored its sovereignty Sept. 20, it will be easier to reach a solution and sign a peace deal as soon as possible, he said.

Aliyev also urged the warring sides to actively work on the delimitation of the border and put an end to the long-lasting conflict.